


i'm writing your name on every page

by starlight_sugar



Category: Campaign (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 19:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17168333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_sugar/pseuds/starlight_sugar
Summary: Now, Lyn doesn’t put much stock in culinary resumes. It’s impossible to say on paper alone whether a chef is any good. (A restaurant AU.)





	i'm writing your name on every page

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is part of the AUcember series, a self-made challenge where I try to write a new AU one-shot every day. You can read all of the AUcember fics in the collection linked above.

There’s something soothing about the chaos of a kitchen, the constant motion and coming and going. As soon as Lyn walks into the kitchen of GBS Ltd., she feels at home. Which, she supposes, is good, because she’s going to be spending a lot of time here.

“Chef Luroon?” a voice says to one side. She turns to see a strong-looking man with tattoos and a friendly smile, reaching out to shake her hand. “I’m Bacta, I’m the pastry chef. Welcome aboard.”

“Thank you,” Lyn says sincerely. “Happy to be here. You’re the one showing me the ropes today?”

“I am, although we’re already in the swing of things. As the new sous chef, I’m afraid you’re going to be jumping into the middle of things.”

“Afraid?” Lyn grins at him. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“Good,” Bacta says firmly. “Well, Chef Luroon-”

“Oh, Lyn, please.”

“Lyn, then. Leenik’s in a meeting with the sommelier right now, but he should be out eventually.”

“A meeting with the sommelier?” Lyn repeats. “About what?”

It’s either the wrong question to ask or the right one. Bacta sighs, a deep shoulder-heaving thing. “This is one of those things that is better witnessed than explained.”

Lyn arches an eyebrow at him; he only shrugs. “Let me show you around the kitchen. You’ll get it when they get done.”

Now, Lyn doesn’t put much stock in culinary resumes. You can work at the nicest restaurant and still not be a competent chef; you can be competent and work somewhere that isn’t “nice,” by restaurant standards. It’s impossible to say on paper alone whether a chef is any good.

That being said, Lyn knows she has a good resume. Good culinary school, good first job, good… everything. You don’t get to be the sous chef at GBS Ltd., one of the best comfort food restaurants in New York City, without a good resume. She met Chef Geelo half a dozen times while interviewing for the job, but she’s fairly sure that who she was on paper got her foot in the door.

But she talks to Bacta, and it sounds like he doesn’t have the same resume. It also doesn’t sound like he has any resume at all, outside of knowing how to bake. He’s only the pastry chef, one of half a dozen people in the kitchen, but Lyn can tell right away that he’s the one that people listen to.

(“I’m not the sous chef,” Bacta says at one point. “I don’t know how to cook enough of the stuff to be the sous chef.”

“But you’re in charge,” Lyn says, and it’s not a question.

Bacta only shrugs. “You seem like you’re going to be able to run things.”

“And you’ll be there if I can’t?”

“Someone has to,” he says, and that’s that.)

And she meets the rest of the chefs, and it’s all the same with them. Maybe they have some experience, some formal training, but most of them are relatively inexperienced. And Lyn tastes all of their food, and it’s - well, it’s better than a lot of the nicer places she’s been.

“Leenik’s an odd one,” Bacta says, after they watch a skinny kid break down a whole chicken without even breaking a sweat. “He’s very particular about who works for him. I’m not really sure where he finds people, but he finds good people for the job.”

“I thought I got the job because of my resume.”

“Anywhere else, you would’ve. This place, you got the job because Leenik likes you.”

“And that goes a long way here.”

“He didn’t like the last sous,” Bacta says.

Lyn snorts. “Ominous.”

“It was meant to be.” Bacta opens his mouth, like he’s going to say something, but then a door opens behind him, and he sighs. “That’ll be Leenik and Tryst.”

“Tryst is the sommelier?”

“Yes, and he’s… something.”

“Good something?”

Bacta grimaces. “He’s-”

“New sous chef!” says a new voice. Lyn turns to see a man with long blonde hair sweeping down the hall towards them. He has a sparkle in his eye, the kind that Lyn normally associates with people that she’s going to have to put into their place at some point. But he’s smiling like he owns the place, and Leenik doesn’t seem concerned about him at all. He sticks out a hand. “Trystan Valentine, sommelier extraordinaire.”

“Sommelier okay,” Bacta says from behind Trystan. Now that the sommelier is actually out, Lyn can see that a lot of the attitude is put on. He seems friendlier, more casual. “Tryst, meet the new sous chef.”

“Lyntel Luroon.” She sticks her hand out. “If you kiss my knuckles, I will break your nose.”

“He might be into that,” Bacta mutters as a warning.

Tryst drops his slick smile to shoot Bacta a dirty look. “You can’t say that to strangers, man.”

“You could’ve said no,” Leenik mutters.

Tryst rolls his eyes and shakes Lyn’s hand. “Call me Tryst. I’m the one who makes sure your wine pairings are good, and that you have enough wine in the restaurant. I can’t be as friendly as I want to, I have places to be, but I’m glad to meet you.”

“It’s good to see you, Lyn,” Leenik adds, looking around Tryst’s shoulder to meet her eyes. He doesn’t look like Chef Geelo, award-winner and restaurateur, who interviewed Lyn six times to be his sous. He looks like a regular guy, and as soon as Lyn smiles at him, his eyes slide back to Tryst. “You ready to go? I’ll walk you out.”

Tryst grins at Leenik, and Lyn nearly takes a step back in surprise. The way Tryst is smiling at Leenik is soft, almost sweet. It’s so different from the way he was looking at Lyn, so genuine and warm, that she’s taken aback. And Leenik smiles back, carefree, and follows Tryst out.

Lyn waits until they’re out of earshot to turn to Bacta. “I see what you mean about them.”

“They have private meetings once a week,” Bacta says, and widens his eyes significantly. “No other vendors have those meetings.”

“But are they-”

“Nobody knows.”

“Nobody?”

“They don’t exactly advertise it. As far as anyone they can tell, it’s strictly business.”

“Except for the private meetings.”

“Except for the private meetings,” Bacta agrees.

Lyn nods slowly, sorting through all of the details about this. “You think we can figure it out?”

Bacta grins at her. “Chef Luroon, I think if anyone could, it’s going to be us.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr and Twitter @waveridden!


End file.
